Ted Cruz Responds to Ex-National Enquirer Boss's Revelation of Fake Stories Aimed to Help Trump

The first witness in Donald Trump's Hush Money trial, David Pecker, an ex-National Enquirer publisher made explosive claims in his testimony. Senator Ted Cruz was among the rivals of the former president about whom he conspired "negative" stories with the help of Trump's ex-attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. Here's how Cruz reacted to Pecker's claims. 

As part of a well-planned 'catch-and-kill' scheme, Pecker revealed he'd partner with Cohen to decide which stories to run and which one's to bury during the 2016 campaign to aid the then-presidential candidate Trump. As per his claims, the curated pieces ensured his GOP rivals suffered a reputational risk, per Daily Mail. 

Cruz, who dismissed these fabricated stories published back then, brushed off Pecker's claims in his recent testimony in the Manhattan courtroom, saying, "Not interested in revisiting ancient history," he told reporters in the Capitol seemingly unfazed by the past stories being dragged once again. 

Meanwhile, Pecker testified, "Michael Cohen would call me and say we would like for you to run a negative article on a certain – let's say it's on Ted Cruz," adding more names to the list of Trump's targets, "He would send me information about Ted Cruz or about Ben Carson or Marco Rubio, and that was the basis for our story. We would embellish it from there." 

It's worth noting that all three names mentioned by Pecker in the courtroom- Cruz, Carson, and Rubio were Trump's political rivals in 2016 free-for-all for the Republican nomination. According to the former publisher, the outlet published a story smearing Cruz and his wife Heidi's image, including linking the senator's father to John F. Kennedy's assassinator Lee Harvey Oswald. 

Pecker further explained, "We mashed the photos and the different picture with Lee Harvard Oswald. We mashed the two together," referring to the infamous black and white photo of Cruz's father Rafael Cruz standing next to Oswald, adding, "That's how that story was prepared — created, I would say." 

The ex-commander-in-chief faces 34 felony counts as part of the Hush Money case due to porn star Stormy Daniels affair allegations. Daniel, originally Stephanie Gregory Clifford, revealed she had a sexual encounter with Trump after meeting him at a charity golf tournament in July 2006 at Lake Tahoe, Nevada.  

The Republican front-runner directed his fixer Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 to stay silent about the affair before the 2016 elections. According to Cohen's testimony, he paid the amount from his "own pocket," and the prosecutors argued Trump falsely filed the amount as business expenses to conceal the affair. 

Although Trump has repeatedly declined an affair with Daniels and called the trial a "disgrace," Pecker's testimony is substantial in the Hush Money case. He also said that the decision to bury all negative stories followed after a meeting in 2015 where Pecker assured the GOP nominee Enquirer would only publish stories favorable to the billionaire. 

"When someone's running for public office like this, it is very common for these women to call up a magazine like the National Enquirer to try to sell their stories," the ex-Enquirer staff said referring to two more stories surrounding Trump's sexual misconduct with women, per Reuters.